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Saturday, December 03, 2011

Ju Jihun (and Hong Kwangho)

Sorry, had double eyegasm, and have absolutely nothing of any sense to write. "...you've been double cast with Hong Gwang-ho this time, who nobody could win in terms of singing."

And this is how sanity leaves me, leeeaaaveees meeeee!! Nanana...

Jeez, I love you, Jihun, but Mr. Hong will crush you, oh damn...

Mah poor poor hart...

"I once ran into Ju Ji-hoon at a theater. And I felt a strong presence
from him in how he looked at the stage. Then when I got to meet him
through an acquaintance, I was very surprised by his philosophy and
attitude on life. He also had a reverentialness toward the stage in
particular." Along with news that Ju Ji-hoon would be discharged from
the military came news that he was cast in musical "Doctor Zhivago."
Many thought that it was unexpected that he was making a comeback
through a musical instead of a movie or drama and some even said it is
what he owes for the past incident he was involved in. However like
"Doctor Zhivago" producer Shin Choon-soo, chief of OD Musical Company
said, Ju Ji-hoon was a person who had been spotted at theaters an
exceptional number of times. When he was brewing with the passion for
acting yet could not actually do it, he waited for the time he could
again while chasing it with his eyes. And now, it is time for him to
release that energy accumulated within him. He has started on round two
of his life with the desperateness that "the best way to apologize would
be to do so with what one does best" and the ease the age of 30 has
brought him.

It's been about ten days since you were discharged from the military. Has it hit you that you're a civilian now?
Ju Ji-hoon: It feels like three years passed with the blink of an
eye. And it hadn't really hit me that I've been discharged because as
is the case for all soldiers, I was out on my final long-term leave from
the military and did a lot of things during that time but it hits me a
bit now that I see the flashes of cameras going off in front of my eyes.

You chose "Doctor Zhivago" as your comeback project. And most people have responded that it's an unexpected choice.
Ju: Simply put, of all the scripts I received, this was the one I
identified with the most. Of course I had a certain level of
expectation for "Doctor Zhivago" because of its original work, but I saw
that it contained the story of one man's entire life. Yuri Zhivago was a
fallen aristocrat, a doctor and poet who also experienced war. He went
through a lot of hardships in life and I could relate to a lot of them.
[laughs] He was appealing in that his outlook on life didn't waver
amidst those huge incidents and I felt a sense of reality to him.
"Doctor Zhivago" could initially come off as being dull compared to
projects that are fancy and stimulating these days. Should I say that
it's sort of like a watercolor painting?

You
appear at theaters often enough that whoever likes musicals has
probably seen you at least once. When did you start to have an affection
for the stage?
Ju: I like the stage because I used to be a model. I also shot a
lot of musical scenes in movie "Antique" and then I took on the musical
"Don Juan." It was attractive in that I'd get to act live and focus just
on the rehearsals for a long time. It was a lot of hard work but the
longer and bitter the wait, the sweeter the fruit, right? And it turned
out to be just great. Then that is how I came to make acquaintances and
watch actors perform. And the more I watched musicals, the more fun I
realized they were which naturally made me fall for them. When I found a
musical I liked, I think I did a lot of imaging about them with me in
them.

You
once said that you 'want to embrace the stage' after your first musical
"Don Juan." Did you say it out of a sense of relief from pulling it
off?
Ju: I started on "Don Juan" not knowing anything about it except
for the fact that I wanted to do it. And all projects are tough but "Don
Juan" was extremely tough physically. I had to sing about 18 songs and
they were of such a wide range of genres that I had to change the
position of my vocal cords three to four times. I had such a hard time
that I complained to my fellow actors and asked them to save me. And
people around me said they were really sorry to see that I had taken on
such a difficult project as my first musical. There were also so many
technical aspects to the project that my fellow actors got in a lot of
accidents as well. Hence it was totally about luck and I luckily didn't
get into any accidents. That's why I once kneeled on stage and prayed to
it after a performance. And said that I'm grateful that no mistakes
occurred outside of my power despite it being my first project. That's
become sort of a ritual for me since.

But
unavoidably, there was much left to be desired regarding your singing.
Plus, you've been double cast with Hong Gwang-ho this time, who nobody
could win in terms of singing.
Ju: I received vocal lessons while in the military. Of course, it
wasn't very hardcore training so don't set your hopes too high.
[laughs] And Hong Gwang-ho's singing makes even guys hearts flutter. I
don't have much pride when it comes to learning. I need to learn because
I'm not good. And I like that. Who'd Hong Gwang-ho ever teach to sing
for free! I'll put my all into my role, even if someone told me to take
it easy since it'll be my first time in a while standing in front of an
audience.

Actors who have worked mostly on movies
and dramas tend to want to be acknowledged for their acting than singing
when they're working on musicals. I heard that when you did "Don Juan,"
you started on it with the mindset that you'll own at least the ending.
Ju Ji-hoon: Singing is important as well but I'm focusing more on
the acting. Because singing is about acting as well, just with notes to
it. And from a certain point on, I've stopped drawing a distinction
between films, dramas, musicals and plays. I'm just an actor that tries
to relate to every situation.

Then wouldn't you be able to show more detailed acting in a smaller than larger theater?
Ju: As someone who does a lot of work which seeks after what's
realistic, when I first started on large theatrical musicals, I felt a
considerable gap in the sense that I had to make even the 1,500th person
sitting in the very back row see me. But I came to change my mind after
continued practice. If you think about it, I'm sure there's at least
one person of this world with seven billion people that does acting that
seems very big. But people may not think he's unique or weird. He may
seem natural. Because he's been living that way his whole life. So I
told myself that I'll rehearse more and deliver what I think is real.
It's impossible to enlarge something that's small but it's easy to break
down a big piece of chocolate. And a lot of people take part in large
theatrical performances and there are a lot of good actors and people
who are dependable in "Doctor Zhivago." I know I need to go my way but
it's also a blessing to be able to be led that way by someone.

But wouldn't you still want to show more detailed acting?
Ju: I'll just need to trouble myself a bit more for that. I'll
stick to what I have promised to do on stage including my movements. But
in scenes that it's hard to see me or I don't have much acting to do, I
do what I do with movies. Whether people see me or not. At least I
won't be disappointed in myself after putting in that much more effort.
But I have thought, 'I wish they could see it a bit.' That's why they
have a great system at theaters. Called opera glass rentals. [laughs]

It seems that you're the type that tortures yourself because you're saying that you'll act even in the moments you're not seen.
Ju: That's right. I know, rationally, that I don't need to do
that. I know it but emotionally, I can't control it. I'm a very lucky
actor. I debuted as the main character in movies, dramas and musicals.
And I know it's something that a lot of people would envy but it's also
extremely tough and I think if I saw it happen to anyone else, I'd feel
sorry for them. Because whether we're good or bad, we get judged. It
doesn't even have to be the judgement of someone else -- it could be
myself or people we trust in. But it needs to happen in steps. In my
case though, I had to take in and deal with the damage that came upon me
in one go. What I felt while shooting "Goong" was that nobody cut me
any slack because it was my debut project. And I knew that would be the
case but it was much worse than I thought it would be. That's why I put
my all into musicals when I started on them. And I'm still barely
breaking even by putting my all into them. I'm someone who is barely
breaking even when I do well so it's become my personality. Of course
I'm happy and very grateful but the brighter the light, the deeper the
shadow. And I have extremely deep shadows.

But you turned 30 this year so maybe there'll be some changes to that aspect of your personality.
Ju: In the past, I used to consider my goal important and headed
in a direction I set. I had obsessions but those have lessened now. I've
come to look at the world on a wider perspective so although I may
still not take on a lot of projects, I'll probably work on a larger
variety of them. I felt light at heart while serving my time in the
military and came to be at ease after experiencing a lot of ordinary
incidents. In the past, I just wanted to act and if I felt overwhelmed
by my fans' love, I even turned away from them. I used to be very scared
but I think I've shedded a coat of that.

You
said earlier on that you imagined yourself on stage while watching
certain musicals. Which ones are they? I think they'd serve as the hint
to the next step you'd take.
Ju: Oh! I like the musicals that OD Musical Company takes on.
[laughs] I love musicals. They're not like movies where they come down
after a showing but run for extremely long times. And during that time,
you make various attempts and learn to communicate with the audience so
what people usually say are good are really good. I've enjoyed all the
musicals that have name value.

Well I'm hoping we'll get to see you on the stages for more projects with name value.
Ju: Even if there aren't! [laughs]